Tim Weisberg: Patriots need to slam the door in fourth quarter

Sunday

Sep 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM

Once upon a time, not so long ago (to quote Bill Belichick's favorite rock group), the New England Patriots were the best closers in the NFL. They were Mariano Rivera coming on in the ninth, they were Jerry West in the fourth quarter €» heck, they were even Kyra Sedgwick.

TIM WEISBERG

Once upon a time, not so long ago (to quote Bill Belichick's favorite rock group), the New England Patriots were the best closers in the NFL. They were Mariano Rivera coming on in the ninth, they were Jerry West in the fourth quarter €¦ heck, they were even Kyra Sedgwick.

And now? Well, now they've morphed into the team that just can't get it done down the stretch.

Granted, it's only been a small sample size in which the Pats have floundered at the end of close games — we can say it goes back to last season's Super Bowl, when the Patriots were up 17-9 in the third quarter but eventually fell 21-17 to the New York Giants after the G-Men got on the board late in the fourth quarter (sound familiar?).

In fact, The Boston Herald pointed out in a blog post that going back to last season, four of the Pats' six losses in that stretch came after they held a fourth-quarter lead. The Herald also pointed out that they've also had three fourth-quarter comebacks during that stretch as well. But what does it say about the mighty Patriots if they are just a smidge above .500 in close games?

"We just don't play well when we need to," Tom Brady said following last Sunday night's 31-30 loss to the Ravens.

Putting last year in the rear view, the Patriots have lost two straight games in 2012 on last-second field goals — one missed by New England, and one made by Baltimore. They've struggled to get into the end zone, especially late in games, which is something that can't happen when a team is trying to break in a young defense.

If the game against the Cardinals was supposed to be an aberration, then losing to the Ravens was a disaster. In a game that could have playoff implications down the road, the Patriots were up nine points halfway through the fourth quarter with the ball and a chance to just run down the clock. Instead, they put the ball back in Baltimore's hands and proceeded to lose their second straight game by a grand total of three points.

It ended the Pats' streak of 145 consecutive games at .500 or better, the longest such streak in the history of the NFL.

But those days were in a time when the Pats could effectively run down the clock when they had a lead, when they could convert in the red zone, when Brady could connect on a long-distance pass and when the offense put up the points and the defense made them stand up.

Maybe those days are gone, but Brady sure doesn't think so.

"We have to obviously make improvements, because what we're doing isn't good enough," he said.

This week does, however, give the Patriots a chance to get back on track. They're in the basement in the AFC East at 1-2, but today marks their first division game when they take on the Bills in Buffalo. Last year, the Patriots lost 34-31 up there, but exacted revenge on New Year's Day when they came from a 21-0 deficit to score 49 unanswered points and win 49-21 heading into the playoffs and an eventual AFC Championship.

"I don't think about last season. I don't really think about that much. I think that we have to go out and play well this week and win," Brady said. "We're right in (the games), we just have to do a better job in certain areas. If we do that, we'll start winning games. If we don't, we'll have a miserable year. No one wants that around here."

It's not too late for the Patriots to regain the closer's mentality. Not so long ago, they were accused of running up the score against teams. Now, they'd settle just for running out the clock.

It's been virtually a lock these past few years that Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski will come up with a huge game against the Buffalo Bills. But this time around, he might not even be on the field.

Last week, Gronkowski didn't figure much into the offensive output in the loss to the Ravens, with just two catches for 21 yards. It was expected he'd play a much bigger role this week against his hometown team — Gronk grew up in Williamsville, N.Y., just 14 miles outside of Buffalo — because he always performs well against them. In four career games versus the Bills, Gronkowski has amassed 22 catches for 314 yards and seven touchdowns. That's the best he's performed against any other team in the NFL.

But Gronkowski also landed on Friday's injury report with a hip injury and was deemed "questionable" for today. He hadn't been on the report Wednesday or Thursday, indicating he had practiced fully on both days, but was limited on Friday. That would point to the injury occurring in Friday's practice.

Whether or not Gronkowski put up big numbers against the Bills, he'd still be needed for his blocking abilities, facing Buffalo's fearsome front four. Does anyone really want to see if Michael Hoomanawanui can hold off Mario Williams? Because without Gronk, the Pats would be left with just him and Daniel Fells following the knee injury of Aaron Hernandez and this week's surprise release of Kellen Winslow, Jr.

The Pats could also be down another key blocker as well, as guard Logan Mankins has not practiced all week with a hip injury of his own, prompting the team to sign offensive lineman Matt Tennant on Saturday.

If Brady can throw one touchdown pass against Buffalo today, he'll tie Brett Favre for the third-longest streak of games with at least one TD pass (36) in NFL history. The only other players who would stand in front of him for the all-time mark is Drew Brees (currently at 46) and Johnny Unitas (47).

Brady also needs just 12 completions to pass Kerry Collins (3,487) for 10th on the all-time list, and needs 57 passing yards to pass Collins (40,922 yards) on the all-time passing list. Brees sits at No. 10, about 4,000 yards ahead of Brady.

No, this one had nothing to do with replacement refs or the failure to overturn a horrible call last Monday night €¦ this one has to do with the Nike "swoosh."

Apparently, Brady — who has an endorsement deal with Under Armour — covered up Nike's logo on the left sleeve of his sweatshirt during his Wednesday press conference. Boston Globe beat writer Shalise Manza Young even tweeted a picture of the taped-up trademark.

The league was already on alert regarding their partnership with Nike after a few weeks ago, when Redskins rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III taped over his Nike swoosh and turned it into an "H," writing the word "Heart" down his warm-up shirt. RGIII, of course, has an endorsement deal with Nike rival Adidas.

In a conference call with the Buffalo media, Belichick was asked if he'd had a chance to try Gronk Flakes, the new Gronkowski cereal.

"No, I haven't had a chance to try that yet," Belichick said. "I'm still working on those Flutie Flakes."

Oh, Bill. That joke was just like those Flutie Flakes probably are by now €¦ stale. But considering the week he had — including a $50,000 fine for putting his hands on a replacement official on Sunday night — it's good he could take moment to kid around.

Tim Weisberg covers the New England Patriots for The Standard-Times. Contact him at timweisberg@hotmail.com.